Let's GO UP!!!

*the following are thoughts of someone who has watched his favorite team literally resurrect themselves back from the depths.*

i've always been proud of my school. though i'm not the blabber mouthed, active and engaging student who parades himself/herself as a bona fide member of the UP constituency, i am still, by heart, a true Isko. someone who has lots of stuff to do in my everyday life, yet still manages to squeeze out free time and funds to show my support for the school's team.

yeah i know, we are 0-15 (i think). we suck. we have the worst record in the UAAP standings. i've never seen a team with such a record that sucked. we were supposed to suck anyway, but not by this degree. hell, we're even heckled by people we don't know who relentlessly throw one-liners at us.

"o bigyan nyo na yang mga taga-UP na yan, andami namang panalo ng mga yan e."
"o tatakan mo na yang mga yan, para namang mananalo sila di ba?"

this kind of mediocre verbal attack places them at a level way below what we perceive as standard decency. di ko nga magets e, anlaki yata ng mga problema nila sa eskwelahang pinapasukan ko. di naman sila napasok sa ibang eskwelahan. di naman sila mukhang alumni. mga pangkaraniwang manggagawa naman din sila, na binabayaran yung pag-aaral ko. i really don't get it.

what i do know is, despite of our dubious record which i think no team would ever match, our boys have lived up to our school's name. FIGHTING Maroons.

Yeah, there have been times that the losses were too much to swallow (30+ pts margin in more than 3 games) but the boys showed up to play once more the next game. There were also disheartening losses (like the one in FEU) which would really make you wonder how these boys got up from where they were sleeping on and trod the path towards the gym in the wee hours of the morning or afternoon, while all the time thinking of the bundles of requirements they also have to submit (they’re students like us, you know). Being a varsity member doesn’t mean you’d be excused for slacking, because you’re not.

Yes I know, I’m cutting once more the slack that these boys burden. The high expectations, the bitter taste of loss, the fact that every loss amounts to something more as they pile up and the utter frustration and gloom (thank you Studio 23) they have to suffer everyday.

No, I’m tired of pointing fingers. I’m tired of the politics and the whatnot. Let those who are ambitious enough for their own good deal with such bullshit. Joe Lipa is a good coach. Papa Rod (assistant director for athletic recruitment) wouldn’t be lying to me if he said that they always had great practices. Overall it’s the general willingness of the players which are to blame for this. None of them execute plays, none of them plant screens, none of them sacrifice for the team. Sabi nga nung nakausap kong matandang lalaki (UP Alumnus and probably a former Maroon himself) walang puso maglaro yung mga bata ngayon. I kinda agreed with him. I’ve had enough of the “me-first” attitude and the scorer’s mentality they bring to the floor every time. Why won’t they mold their attitudes to the school’s founding principle? The Oblation means giving oneself for the greater good of humanity. Why won’t these guys sacrifice for the betterment of the team? I really don’t know the answers to that question. I’m leaving space for them to prove me wrong next year. I want to see selfless team basketball. I want to see set plays being run. I want to see players who cut hard receive a good pass, and of course, I want to see them win it all. I’m not rushing. Just win it all while I’m alive. Haha.

Supposedly, this blog was for bashing the players for their selfishness on the court. But something happened that changed my mind. Something that happened for 10 minutes.

T’was the last game for the year, and we were against Adamson. Again, mediocrity set in, and we found our beloved school down by 27 at one point of the game due to stupid turnovers and porous defense. I was already waiting to throw in my version of the white towel, or wave the white flag, or whatever to stop the game and further humiliation of our Alma Mater. But the boys bought in something that was missing for fourteen games: their heart.

Suddenly, stops were made, shots were swat, defenses forced turnovers which led to easy baskets, and a few loose balls chased here and there, and suddenly that huge 27 point summit was whittled down to twelve with 8 minutes left on the 4^th quarter. I’ve never seen Mike Gamboa run like that. It was like he was running for his life, along with his teammates. He celebrated, he jumped for joy with every made basket. I was impressed by Zarlo dela Victoria’s defense on Patrick Cabahug. He shut down his man for almost the whole time he was on the court. Too bad he got victimized by a lot of touchy calls and he got strapped with 4 fouls. I was enthralled by the UP crowd and by the Maroons themselves. For an immaculate period of time, momentum was with us. We cheered and jeered. My voice gave out shouting those chants by the pep squad. For some unknown reason, we truly had something to cheer about our down-with-their-luck team. We were one with them. And there we were, surprisingly alive and well, coming up from the pits of a 27-point deficit. And it was good. Really, really good. I was alive and so were all the people around me. The energy was insane. We all stood up to see what would happen next. It was though we were winning. We lost in the end though. But we kept the score respectable and the game became a thriller at the end. It was a very enjoyable experience. And it made me think of how much I am proud to be a part of the UP experience. The thrill, the heartbreaks, the upsets and the joys. All of those were in that game. Our team gave it all. We gave them our all, and that was all that mattered.

I sang the University hymn with pride and honor. Something I haven’t really done yet until now, and it made me happy.

So, see you boys next year. Hopefully you’d be playing really good team ball by that time.

Sa puso at isipan, MAROON ang aking tangan.
U-niber-sidad ng Pilipinas!
Let’s GO UP!